Mako shark attacks 600-pound swordfish fisherman was fighting

A TV fishing host in New Zealand was pulling in an estimated 600-pound swordfish when suddenly an even bigger mako shark happened on the scene and started to attack the swordfish. At first, fishing host Matt Watson of “The Ultimate Fishing Show” didn’t know what was happening. When the swordfish did a complete out-of-the-water leap, he believed the swordfish had cut the line and was trying to shake the bait. But when the TV fishing crew approached the scene, Watson excitedly discovered “the biggest mako I’ve ever seen” claiming the swordfish for itself. “The Ultimate Fishing Show” captured once-in-a-lifetime video of the scene, as Watson narrated (warning for a minor expletive):

The battle occurred earlier this week off the coast of Northland, New Zealand, as Watson and his TV fishing crew were filming a swordfish episode.

As Watson was hand-lining the swordfish to the boat, the fish suddenly took a speedy run, no doubt trying to escape the jaws of the mako shark.

It wasn’t until the fishermen raced over and put a research tag into the swordfish that they realized what was occurring.

“Look at the size of that swordfish, and it’s getting ravaged by an even larger mako shark,” Watson is heard saying on the video.

With the swordfish mortally wounded by the shark bites, the fishermen attempted to land what was left of the swordfish, much to the dismay of the mako shark, which at one point briefly bumped the boat.

“That is the biggest mako shark I’ve ever seen; that is massive,” Watson says. “He’s trying to keep his catch from us. He is trying to keep us at bay from what he thinks is his kill.

“This is ‘Old Man and the Sea’ stuff.”

Watson was recalling Ernest Hemingway’s best-selling novel about a fisherman who catches a giant marlin only to lose it to a group of hungry sharks.

In this case, the fishermen were victorious, and have one heck of a fish story to tell.

“Mako sharks actually predate swordfish, and there’s been lots of well documented eyewitness accounts of this happening,” Watson told 3 News, New Zealand, in a Thursday night interview. “But to see it right there up close, and to get it on film was something pretty special.”

Photos of Matt Watson with the swordfish courtesy of “The Ultimate Fishing Show.” Photo of the mako shark is a screengrab from the video.